Vladimir Putin

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Kazbek Gekkiyev was shot dead on Wednesday. (Reuters/VGTRK)

News anchor shot dead in Russia’s North Caucasus

New York, December 6, 2012–Authorities should immediately investigate Wednesday’s murder of a journalist in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.Two unidentified men shot Kazbek Gekkiyev, 28, in the head three times while he was returning home from work with his friend at…

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CPJ
A security guard at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, right, runs toward Pussy Riot supporters holding Cyrillic letters reading 'Blessed are the Merciful' in Moscow on Aug. 15. (AP/Novaya Gazeta, Yevgeny Feldman)

Mission Journal: Putin imposes harsh climate on Russia

Record-high temperatures swept most of Europe this summer, but in Moscow the weather, much like the political climate, was chilly. I spent three months in the capital at the invitation of the Russian Union of Journalists, and witnessed how Vladimir Putin’s third term in office kicked off with the passage of restrictive laws, harassment and…

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Thousands gathered in December 2011 to protest the alleged vote rigging in parliamentary elections. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Criminalization of speech a serious setback for Russia

Shortly after the May 7 presidential inauguration of Vladimir Putin, the Russian parliament passed four major bills in record time–all of them meant to counter the protests that first erupted in the country in December 2011.

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Internet law: a good bad example of Russia’s backsliding

Russia’s State Duma has passed a number of new laws in the past week, all seemingly aimed at reining in civil society and criticism of public figures. The bills would re-criminalize defamation and impose limits and labels on NGOs. They follow the introduction last month of excessive fines for unauthorized protests.

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Russian lawmakers attend a session of the lower house of parliament on July 6, 2012. (AP/Misha Japaridze)

Russian parliament votes to recriminalize defamation

New York, July 11, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned over Russia’s moves to return defamation to the criminal code, and calls on the parliament to reject the restrictive bill on its second reading. 

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Obama should raise press freedom in Africa food talks

New York, May 16, 2012–President Obama should acknowledge the role that independent news reporting plays in assessing agricultural challenges and facilitating the response to famine, the Committee to Protect Journalists stated in a letter to the White House. Ethiopia in particular downplays the extent of food crises and undermines the ability of donor nations and aid groups to help by denying journalists access to sensitive areas and censoring independent coverage.

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Independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta is suffering from a raid and audit on its major shareholder. (AP)

Ahead of elections, Russian media are duly warned

Russia’s leading independent media head into Sunday’s elections–in which Vladimir Putin is expected to be handed his third presidential term–burdened by a series of warnings. Over the past few months, beginning with the parliamentary elections held December 4, Kremlin allies have taken several steps designed to put news outlets on alert for uncensored coverage of…

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A poster depicts Vladimir Putin as the Grim Reaper on one of Ekho Moskvy's studio doors. (CPJ/Nina Ognianova)

Ekho Moskvy board shuffled ahead of Russian election

The Russian blogosphere erupted with comments today following an announcement that the board of directors of the iconic radio station, Ekho Moskvy, will be changed. The timing of the development–weeks before presidential elections–and the potential consequences for Ekho’s editorial policy threw listeners into a frenzy of worry and speculation.

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A signboard held outside an Interior Ministry building in Moscow in 2010 reads: 'Journalist Oleg Kashin is beaten. I demand perpetrators and masterminds be found.' (Reuters/Denis Sinyakov)

Impunity still reigns in beating of Oleg Kashin

A year ago, on a November night, two unidentified assailants awaited Oleg Kashin, a correspondent for the Russian business daily Kommersant, by his home on a central Moscow street, a 10-minute walk from the Kremlin. The two had hidden steel rods in bouquets of flowers.

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A police officer falls down as he tries to detain a demonstrator during protests against alleged vote rigging in Russia's parliamentary elections in Triumphal Square in Moscow Wednesday. (AP)

Protests not newsworthy to Kremlin-controlled media

Following Sunday’s elections to the Russian Duma, news reports abound of the wave of opposition protests that have hit Russia’s current and historic capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg. In demonstrations unprecedented in the past decade, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets chanting “Russia without Putin!” and calling for the vote to be annulled,…

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